Footscray

How many points will we get for that win? I checked the live rankings site but it doesn't look like its updated yet

Mayor has said in other interviews that the original proposal by a previous potential ownership group involving elks/kings stadium and leveling the curling club is dead. I think that was more of a real estate play... and relocating the curling club would cost millions. I think it'll be at Parkinson by the apple bowl where they are building the new Y and high school, or downtown in city park at waterfront field which was the rumor circulating in town a couple weeks ago when the game was here. I am guessing it would take a couple million to make the apple bowl fit for even a temporary year. The sound system didn't even work at the exhibition game. Sea cans would be needed for dressing rooms and the bleachers on the far side have no stairs so once they are full you can't exit... I am sure they will need to be replaced from a safety perspective. I'm ok with that if we actually get a good permanent stadium though. An 8k seater in waterfront park with a roof I think would do very very well. Mayor referencing prospera palace is interesting as that was a P3 where builder got to operate it for a long time in exchange for building it.

Sounds promising on the expansion but less so on the facility, with strong hints of using the Apple Bowl while a permanent structure plan is worked out that sounds vague. The Apple Bowl is a very poor facility for professional sports, as much as I want to see a team here. The track (and even beyond that the one stand is a long ways away from the track even, the tiny field, the lack of secondary stands and the limited capacity and changing rooms plus the lack of parking. I think at a minimum it would need a new temporary modular second stand to be tenable for a season or two. Really hoping that a concrete plan for an actual stadium that isn't modular will emerge and we're not indefinitely at the Apple Bowl. From an infrastructure perspective Kelowna needs some kind of outdoor facility for events even if the CPL isn't in the picture and there is a lot of money budgeted for a new Y (and potentially a high school being discussed) for on the same grounds as the Apple Bowl and so a facility like the new 8,000k stadium in York with community facilities attached would make sense on many levels.

What's actually going on with the stadium referendum? I remember back in february reading there was going to be a referendum but then it never seemed to happen? Would be too bad to see that club move. I really like Starlight - one of the better stadiums in the league for me and if they could get that 4th stand built would be a very nice looking facility. I know it's a ways out of the downtown core and location is a rub for some but last time I went it took me like 15-20 minutes to drive there from downtown. I think if soccer fans aren't willing to drive 20 minutes to a game moving the stadium downtown won't change that immensely? Have a hard time thinking that moving to a revamped Royal Athletic Park is going to bump the attendance a ton. The parking was bad at Starlight though I will say for a stadium most have to drive to that's a big deal. Langley's a tougher spot, its a very small city itself and I know they were hoping to draw fans from up and down the valley but it feels like there is a non-stop churn of CHL and AHL teams moving in and out of the Fraser Valley who have tried to do that and failed. Attendance numbers up a bit this year though so maybe they are building a fanbase. I figured they would have set up shop in Surrey and branded/traded on the bigger population there who identify more strongly with being from Surrey but I guess you have to go to the community that will pay for the stadium ultimately. I know a lot of people outside Surrey rip on it, but people from there seem to have a strong sense of identity in being from there. Feels like the league is a bit cursed facility wise right now. Halifax stadium seems permanently stalled, haven't heard anything about woodbine stadium in 2 years, saskatoon plan died, edmonton and quebec are dead quiet. Be nice to see some good news.

Interview with kelownas mayor. Talks quietly progressing on building some kind of new facility. Sounds like the cpl game cemented it. Kelowna needs some kind of medium sizedoutdoor stadium/concert venue even before cpl enters into the picture as the apple bowl is falling apart.... some rumors it'll be at the soccer field beside the bridge downtown locally. https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/493349/Talks-ongoing-to-bring-professional-soccer-to-Kelowna Hoping there will be at least one permanent stand with a concourse and roof and not just a bunch of metal bleachers. wonder if it'll be the langley team coming up here or a brand new franchise

I have no idea of the actual number, Rob Friend said in the opening address that there were over 5k... and then they announced 6,2XX as the actual total in the 2nd. But it was packed in the pouring rain. I dont think that stadium could hold any more. it was mostly general admission and people were walking the track looking for seats right up to halftime as the bleachers were all full, and then they started climbing an embankment behind one of the goals and sitting there. People were 4 deep standing around the sidelines on the track I was pretty skeptical about the turnout they'd get with not much lead time, limited promotion and a poor facility. Pretty blown away that many came out. Was hard to see as there is really only one proper stand but that kind of turnout was pretty darned impressive. if the city is willing to support a proper stadium someone will put a franchise here after that I'd guess. Nicely done kelowna

Don't want to pretend to have any knowledge I don't but am definitely hearing rumors around town among the soccer community that there's some movement happening in Kelowna and the city is talking to league and perspective owners about a new stadium not at the apple bowl and in a pretty awesome spot

The city and SD have been talking about building a new high school on the Apple Bowl site as well as building a brand new rec and community centre. The positive is that makes it way more likely that funding could be added to build out the apple bowl - the timing might be really good here with the city already having a huge budget to play with to redevelop the site. 242 million dollar budget is already approved and that doesn't include the high school build. But the track might be a going concern unless they build a soccer stadium in a completely different field on the site. All the local schools do their spring track meets there and it's something that's pretty significant in the community at all the schools for the kids and families and there are no other facilities in town. I can't see them ripping it out. The other negative is that the site buildout is going to really eliminate a lot of the parking, the new high school is going in right where the apple bowl parking lot is right now, which is already pretty limited as far as supporting 2-4,000 people coming to the site whereas downtown is full of parkades if they were to build down there. Replacement for Kelowna’s Parkinson Rec Centre to cost $180M - Kelowna Capital News (kelownacapnews.com) *Edit, better site picture in this link*

This is great to read... it sounds like something is cooking again in Kelowna for sure, hearing the city is playing ball is huge as that's such a big piece of the puzzle: “Especially the Okanagan Valley — and Kelowna, in particular — has been on the CPL radar for some time,” Allison said. “The circumstances were that the first group that looked at it wasn’t able to put the puzzle together. But it’s had a bit of a rising from the ashes and the city seems to be on board. And with the Apple Bowl out there, there’s a venue that has hosted our sport in the past. Indeed, the Vancouver Whitecaps have played a neutral-site game there — or many of them there — so we know it’s a great soccer community. “We already have a concentration of teams in the area where there’s Ottawa, York and Forge,” continued Allison. “So it would be a great benefit if all the stars aligned to have a team on Vancouver Island, a team in Vancouver, a team in Calgary and maybe in the Okanagan. And presumably one day again, we’ll be able to look at Edmonton again and do all that.

Okanagan FC went on hiatus from PCSL this year.... To be honest while I'm glad to see this event coming here, I'm kind of shocked its going to be at the Apple Bowl in its current state and I'm afraid the way this is being set up will not result in the best possible crowd. I'll be doing what I can to get all my players and families out but it's basically a crumbling high school level stadium with limited parking and a track between the fans and the field - also on a sunday in June - all the Interior BC rep leagues (TOYSL) and many of the most engaged soccer families have games every sunday. Our leagues all wrap for the summer on the 27th, it's such a shame this wasn't just a bit later as probably half the soccer community in town with older players will be in kamloops, vernon, salmon arm, penticton etc. I know if we want to be in the league we have to be able to draw on a sunday regardless of youth soccer schedules but just seems like a bit of a shame if you just wanted to do one day and game to sell the community to investors that you couldn't have waited two weeks. I'm guessing that's probably 200-300 of your most hardcore members of the soccer community who will have a hard time getting to the game. Seems like they're feeling out the market but I would be (pleasantly) surprised if they drew more than 2k at that site and with those facilities on this kind of 5 week lead time unless there is some kind of massive promotional budget. Had really been hoping for the next news to come in our community that we're finally funding a proper stadium somewhere close to downtown or for an event like this to be planned for months with some new temporary stands and a beer garden added and plenty of time for those of us in the soccer community to hype it up, so feel a bit mixed about this. Anyway, will be doing what I can to get as many people out as possible... hopefully we can make this a success!

Yeah I think you would get a few hundred coming in from Penticton and Vernon if you promoted it well maybe more if you ran some coaches with a local pub, probably even easier if it has Okanagan branding. It's not a lot different from driving from north calgary down to spruce meadows. Probably not for the casuals but your hardcore soccer people would do it. Vernon has a big soccer community... Penticton seems to be not so great lately but that may be down to their local youth soccer association collapsing. I think Kelowna could draw 2-3k to start with with a good marketing effort and try to build from there. 5k off the hop seems unlikely but who knows, I'm just spitballing. I don't believe any people from Kamloops would come in to support a Kelowna team.... it's a lot smaller than Kelowna now (over 100k metro) after many years of being larger and the big smoke in the interior. Very subjective on my end but sense a lot of resentment there with Kelowna having outgrown their city so significantly and the valley with over 400,000 people increasingly become the focal point of the interior for services.

I mean, people for sure go to the lake/beach for a dip on scorching days for sure, but that's like a couple hour thing once in a while, it doesn't take over the whole day or stop us from doing other stuff or even reflect anywhere near half our time off work. Or go golfing once in a while, or hiking or biking... same deal. Everybody likes the lake and uses it and does other outdoor stuff, but what I'm saying is it's not like everybody is so obsessed with going there or spends so much time in the water that it will affect your attendance one night every two weeks. I'm right in the thick of elementary school years with my kids and so I can't speak for the wealthy retirees and rich people who aren't working class, but most people are for sure looking for stuff to take their kids to and get out, date nights, etc, and a lot of the places we go the other 10 months a year are swarmed with tourists in July and August so I think another entertainment option would do well. Any sort of family things like bowling, movies, H20, rockets, etc are always pretty busy with that demographic. The key would be scheduling evening games when it's cooler. Ppl tend to be active a little later in the day when it's really scorching, and It's so nice to go out at 7/8pm in kelowna for a drink or a bite on a patio when it's still 25 but the sun isn't baking down - if you go downtown around that time there are tons of people out. A covered stadium with a beer garden would be real popular IMO, especially in that brewery area/north end. It'll just take time to build the fanbase if it even happens. Personally I don't know about basketball, I have a few friends who are into it, the UBCO games are supposed to be fun and the youth leagues are pretty active but nothing compared to soccer, just my own opinion but I can't see that doing very well here yet, I think it's less popular than soccer by a good margin, I think CFL football is more likely to succeed here than basketball, but getting a stadium built of that size here and on the public dime is a fantasy

Having the product broadcasted has been fantastic and I think everybody is rightfully concerned. Also am sorry for anyone who has lost their job, that sucks. That said - I don't think this will actually devastate the teams in the way the CSL losing its broadcast deal did and I don't see that parallel. I get that you want exposure, but how much actual revenue was each team getting from this deal? I'm guessing not a lot and this won't actually impact their operations financially. It's not like it was a great promotion for the league either, with all due respect, because the people watching it were the hardcore existing fans and casual or potential fans likely couldn't access it, except maybe a few hardcore EPL fans who had fubo. My understanding has always been that this is a gate driven league and the main issue for the league is getting more fans out which still remains the core challenge. Maybe if the league loses some coverage but gets that game of the week on a larger network or streaming platform could actually be beneficial.

Stands need to be covered. Heat issues for the players can be addressed by playing later in the day or evening. The baseball diamonds they are talking about using downtown (elk's and king's stadium) don't have a parking lot so the plan was to redevelop almost the whole block by also levelling and moving the adjacent curling club somewhere else. I think it's gonna take time as the site isn't ready to go like the one in Langley and the ball diamonds will need to be replaced somewhere else with similar bleachers unless they do it without parking. If they are expecting the city to fully pay for it it won't be a smooth process as people will complain. And I have a hard time seeing someone come in and pay for it themselves. The Apple Bowl is the other option and it's not a good facility, the league would fail there. It's outside the downtown core, has a huge track between fans and field, minimal parking, one crumbling tiny old stand and a bunch of metal bleachers that melt your flesh in august. It's been growing fast here, the last census was 222k metro in 2021 and it wouldn't surprise me much if the metro population is over 250k in the next one with another 150-200K within an hour drive between Vernon, Penticton and other nearby towns so I have no doubt that some kind of semi-pro or pro sports team will be in the valley within the next 20 years and it would be good to be first. Among the longer time holdover folks here, a lot of classic small town canada traditional hockey, CFL/NFL crowd. The population has probably about doubled in 25 years so there are lots of transplants and a growing immigrant community and socially it's changed a lot, but it'll take a few years to grow a season ticket base and an owner who is OK with that. I wouldn't be too worried about getting people to give up summer recreation time... I don't think the white upper middle class hockey families who are cruising the lake in their powerboat are going to be their target audience. Most people here don't have a powerboat or spent their time doing the same things tourists do in the summer and are looking for entertainment options so I do think if the league is healthy a team here would do well in the long run.

Honestly they looked uninspired this weekend too, they barely touched the ball they must have been around 30% possession and they got a super lucky break on the first goal that completely changed the balance of the game. Hard to say they deserved to win it, though there's always something to be said for gutting out a victory any way you can and I will say that Cavalry were a bit disappointing themselves as far as how they used the ball and completely collapsed defending on two particular counter attacking sequences by failing to pick up the trailing player, one where Forge scored and one where they were unlucky not to. It's harsh for Forge but the league really needs another team to win soon, the interest level from the common fan and the optics of the league's owner's team winning every season just isn't best served by Forge winning every season as much as I'm sure it's satisfying for Bob Young. I'm really hoping for a team in Kelowna here but if this keeps up where Forge win every season for the next few years before we join it would really dampen enthusiasm a bit. Even with Kyle Becker leaning into being the heel and the challenge of knocking them off their perch it's not like watching Man U pile up titles with Cantona Giggs and co where at least if you hated them you appreciated the style of football and they are can't miss viewing, I find it a hard watch the way they play as a neutral. I don't think there's any big conspiracy or unfairness in their favor to be clear and I respect the achievement immensely - someone else needs to step up and earn it, but it's also unclear to me, to a previous poster's point, how they are keeping their roster in tact with multiple stars and on top of that poaching from other teams while signing ex Canadian internationals like James as free agents and staying under the 1.2 million dollar cap somehow and I hope things change for the league soon and give some of the other clubs some oxygen. It would be really good for the league to have a team like York, Cavs, Halifax, etc host and win a final, probably add permanent fans in that market and ensure the longer term viability of the league.